Image credit: Zee Schoolhouse
It’s the weekend, your little one is sound asleep, there’s an open baby bag in front of you, baby’s essentials are strewn all over your bed – you’re wondering what to pack for their first day at infant care and it’s starting to freak you out. What if you forget something?! What if there are too many things?! What if…
Okay firstly, take a deep breath. Breathe in, hold it there for a second or two, and then let it out…
Secondly, get these items prepared:
- Sticky labels
- Non-toxic markers
- Iron-on labels that are waterproof
- Scotch, masking, or duct tape
- Ziploc bags
Because you’ll need a bunch of them to help you stay organised!
Here’s a list of items that you should pack for baby:
Milk, Bottles, and Food
- Milk and Water bottles – label each accordingly with baby’s name. Important note: some infant care centres require a new bottle for every feed while others only require one bottle which they will wash and sterilise, so please check with your centre about this.
- Breastmilk or Formula bags – they’re easier to use and could prevent spillage. Try not to send a tin of formula, as bags are easier to measure. For breastmilk, you can also choose to place it into bottles (labelled with your child’s name) and pass to it to the centre in a cooler bag. The centre will then be able to warm up the milk
- Cereal – when baby is able to start eating cereal, you should once again, label the cereal that you send to the centre with your child’s name!
- Baby Food – when baby starts eating solid food regularly, you can pass containers to the centre that are filled with their food and are labelled with your child’s name
- Utensils – pack a bowl and spoon for your child as well, and don’t forget to label them
If you happened to notice, labelling your child’s items with their name is a reoccurring theme!
Diapers and Clothes
- Clothes like shirts, socks, bibs, pants, pyjamas – things WILL get messy and dirty, so a change of clothes will be extremely helpful. Make sure you label (either use an iron-on patch or sew their name or initials on) every single item of clothing for easier identification. You should provide a bag for dirty clothing to be placed in as well
- Jacket or sweater if your child gets cold
- Towel -- mainly for hygiene reasons, if your child takes a shower in school
- Wet wipes – the infant care centre will be thankful that you provide them!
- Blankets and Sheets – some infant care centres will ask you to pack an extra set of blankets and sheets, and even though they might provide laundry services, you should do so just in case
- Diapers – you should know, on average, how many diapers baby goes through a day, so pack accordingly. But it’s always better to give more instead of less!
- Wet Bag – for the dirty diapers that baby has, especially if they’re using reusable cloth ones
- Diaper rash cream – provide the centre with the cream that you know baby doesn’t have a reaction to
Other Important Items
- Soap and Shampoo – you’ll know the brands that’re best for your child
- Comfort Items – something that’ll help them to calm down like a pacifier or a pillow
- Medication – if your child requires medication, make sure you pack them and label their name onto the bottles. Infant care centres will usually ask parents to sign a form first that states that you’ve authorised them to give medicine to your child. Ensure you’ve provided clear instructions on the application and dosage of their medication
More Tips
LABEL EVERYTHING. This can’t be stressed enough. Labels are mainly for hygienic purposes and safekeeping. Things will go missing, but labelling them will help you out a bit! On the topic of things going missing, try not to hand over things that are hard to replace, expensive, and easily broken.
The clothes that you send will definitely get dirty and stained, so only use ones that you can live with being stained, or are alright with throwing away. For consumable items like diapers, food, wet wipes, etc., take note of how much is left and when you’ll need to replenish them by.
One more thing to take note of is that every infant care centre will have their own checklist of items so please do enquire with them about that list when you’re looking to sign up with them. The items that we’ve listed above are generally what are required to be packed in your bag. It’s always better to be prepared in advance!
We hope your child’s infant care experience will be a good one!
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